8/07/2017

Let's see....the 1970s...the beginning of the porn boom...criminal exploits....a high-powered cast...why, it almost sounds like HBO has made a TV series based on my all-time favorite movie, Boogie Nights. But that would simply be too much of a good thing, so the network has done the next best thing with The Deuce, which is just about the most HBO-est series HBO has ever produced.

The nudity runs free and wild in this new trailer for The Deuce, which hails from David Simon, creator of the best TV series ever created, The Wire. James Franco plays twins Vincent and Frankie Martino, who run a bar that is really just a front for the mob. This trailer focuses its attention on Maggie Gyllenhaal as Eileen, a prostitute who realizes it might be smarter, and safer, to turn to the porn business. Turns out that's pretty shady, too. Emily Meade, Zoe Kazan, Anwan Glover, Michael Rispoli, David Krumholtz, Laurence Gilliard Jr., Margarita Leveiva, and more co-star, making this look like a reunion of pretty much every show Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelicanos have ever done. I mean, there's a Method Man cameo!

As great as this looks to me, I'm cautious because the era was recently explored in HBO's short-lived Vinyl series. I don't want to start liking it only to have the ax dropped on its head. The Deuce debuts on September 10th and runs for eight episodes.